Fireside
by alaska23
Summary: Wolf is a transfer student and no one knows her. She has her reasons leaving France, and is not really fond of talking about them. Marauder's era, rated T, cause Marauders don't watch their language much. I plan on covering the war as well, so welcome in!
1. Doodles On Napkins

_Hey. _

_It's been only a couple of hours since I got here, and I'm already mortified. Just found out that I have to get in the line with first graders to get my house sorted out. Think about it; me, among all the little kids with hundreds of people watching. It will be really, really weird._

_Bet it can't be worse than what I had to deal with back in France, tough. Hope you've understood why I had to leave, and hope your anger had simmered down since our last encounter. Because I really don't want to do it all over again, you are the only person in the world that I can talk to; the only thing that I have left to lose. _

_Looking forward to see you in the holidays,_

_Yours,_

_~A _

As I've finished my letter, Nox lifted his leg in anticipation and gave me a depressed look. I knew flying all the way back was the last thing he wanted, but I had no choice. He was also not fond of seeing _her, _and I really couldn't blame him. Caressing his head, I felt just as troubled as he did, and I bribed him with some dried meat I keep around for him. It was a weird thing to carry, really, and I had to learn some good spells to keep my purse from stinking, but it was worth it. After all, Nox is the best owl someone could ever ask for.

Binding the letter to his leg, I kissed him lightly on the head and mumbled. "Don't come back here, okay? Let's meet at Hogwarts. They'll feed you there till I come."

I watched him fly away from the window with his ocean blue wings, and I got even more depressed. With him going, I was finally, completely alone in this strange place. And on top of everything, I still had a full week to kill till the school starts. At least my room was nice.. I took care of the shopping months ago, and have spent my last three months studying for catching up with Hogwarts standards, which is unusual for me. So I was determined not to think about any school related thing on my final week.

I decided to pay that 'Diagon Alley' place a visit. Judging from all the cheerful voices I overheard from my room, it would be unbearable without the help of an old friend named Ogden. Ogden's Old Firewhisky.

It's not even noon, you say?

Trust me, I have my reasons.

So I knelt down by my trunk and pushed my clothes around to find the half emptied bottle, and poured what's left into my flask. I always carry one with me, that, and some cigarettes. Back in France, it was nearly impossible to find a place to secretly smoke, or drink, or _live _actually, so I hope it would be better this year.

It didn't take me very long to get bored, for I was alone and the Alley didn't seem to have a comfortable pub where I can rest my head. It was all shops and fancy tea houses. There was too many of everything; too many people, too much noise and sunlight, so I got back to the Leaky Cauldron within an hour. It was always dark inside and everyone seemed to mind their own business, which always worked for me perfectly well.

I smiled at Tom on my way to the pub section, where couple of wizards drink and read quietly. Everyone was looking older than me, but I put a bold face on and find myself a table. Is it rude that I'm drinking out of a flask in someone's pub? Do I have to order something at least, to make that Tom guy happy? I didn't know but it's best to keep what I'm doing till I'm told otherwise.

For the first time that day, the pub resonated with some people's laughter, but no one seemed to care besides me. I looked in the direction where the laughter heard, and saw a couple of boys sitting across the room, chatting and laughing mindlessly. They were an interesting group, really, so I watched them on the sly.

The first one must be the most anxious guy I've ever seen. If he weren't clinking his tea cup to its plate ever time he tried to take a sip with his shaky hands, I wouldn't even notice his presence. He wasn't very talkative really, all he did was to giggle or make one word comments every once in a while. The boy sitting right next to him didn't seem so outgoing either, but at least he wasn't looking pathetic. He seemed.. Smart, I guess. And he had a smile much older than him, which was kind of nice. He must be the responsible one, the emergency brake of the group, if they are even one.

The last two were the source of all the laughter and fuss. The one with the glasses was constantly telling jokes, and occasionally punching the one with the black hair in his arm when he obviously was making some smart-ass comment or did not laugh to a good joke. They were using the words _jerk _and _dumbass _way more than necessary.

The one with the black haired.

His hair was longer than I used to see in France. They don't allow that kind of style in Beauxba- Well, screw Beauxbatons, they don't know anything.

He was leaning back comfortably and swinging back and forth on the hind legs of his chair. His leather jacket looked annoyingly like the one I'm wearing, and I don't like it when people wear the same things I really, really love. He also had this habit of ruffling his hair every once in a while, and I'm sorry to see that his friend next to him was copying that exactly, he was doing it even more frequent than the leather-jacket does, actually.

And then, shit, sudden eye contact.

The one with the leather jacket looks at me with a smirk on his face, trying to recognize me I guess. Well, good luck with that.

Before it all got more awkward, I smirked back and raised my flask towards them as he raised his beer bottle, and we kind of had _cheers _from across the room. I took a sip, and decided it was best for me to went back minding my own business. But I know something was up without even looking at their direction. They weren't noisy anymore, in fact, there was a suspicious silence where I hear one of them mumbling something and the other protesting with a whisper off and on. It was kind of funny you know, but I tried to keep a straight face as I drank and doodled some brooms on the napkin in front of me. This is what I do, when I get bored or don't know what to do, I doodle.

Napkin wasn't the best material though, it was sucking up all the ink and making my brooms unrecognizable.

"Nice jacket."

When did he? I didn't even hear him sneak up on me like that, but he was right in front of me. Pulling a chair for himself, even. The one with the black hair. Still the same smirk on his face, he tried to see what was I doing with the napkin.

"Nice jacket yourself." I said, and take another sip from my flask. He looked at me with his grey eyes and paused for a second, then raised his voice with a dirty smile.

"Now wait a second! I _know _this smell. You've been drinking some of that old Ogden's, haven you?"

I couldn't help but wink mischievously, "Why yes I am!"

"For breakfast I suppose," he laughed, with his eyes still laid on my drawings, and I answered with a flat voice.

"Oh, I don't do breakfast."

"Alright, what do you do then?"

His hand was going to his hair every other minute, and even though his hair was, well, gorgeous, I wanted to put an end to that gesture. What was he doing, sitting next to me uninvited and trying to drag this meaningless conversation? I didn't respond, instead, I stared without a word. He didn't lose any of his confidence though, he just stared back and I could tell that his smirk was about to form any second now.

Then I got pissed at myself for being this grumpy, he was obviously trying to be friends and since I didn't have any, I had to be nice. I broke my silence with a half-smile, and pushed my napkin in front of him.

"I do doodles. They were supposed to be-"

"Brooms, I can tell. In fact, that one's a Moontrimmer, and I guess the one in the left is supposedly a Cleensweep Three. You did the handle wrong."

I get defensive again as he pulled his smart-ass attitude on me, and rolled my eyes.

"I know what a Cleensweep Three looks like, OK, it's just hard drawing on a napkin."

"I bet it is." he said and I surprised at how friendly he sounded. Also, I wasn't sure but, was he impressed? It was written all over his face. He was looking at me differently now, and all of his cockiness was toned down a bit. "You like Quidditch?"

"Does _Bombarda Maxima _blow things up?!"

We both laugh, and he got all curious. In the mean time, I could feel 3 pairs of eyes lingering on us. Since their friend came and sat by me, I haven't heard a single noise from their direction.

"Then how come I don't see you in any of the teams at Hogwarts?" the boy asked, he looked really confused. I could tell that he was trying to remember seeing me around ever, he looked kind of cute when he did all the thinking, so I let him ponder a little longer before finally speaking up.

"Because I'm only starting this year."

The expression on his face was priceless, as his eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped at least five inches down.

"A-are you _a first grader?! _How's that even-"

I know it's cruel of me, but I kept a blank face as he freaked out on me. Trust me, it was almost impossible not to laugh, so you have to at least give me the credit. I couldn't keep going though, after two minutes of him stuttering, I gave up.

"Dude, stop. I'm a sixth grader, a transfer student."

And that was when I heard the laughter of his friend with the eye glasses. Smart one was cracking up as well, but I could tell _he _didn't like it. Because there was an annoyed expression on his face as he shook his head, but I could see he was trying to be cool about it since his friends were watching.

Hand to the hair, three times in a minute.

"Alright, you got me. Don't blame me though, you kind of have a baby face."

"You are the baby face!" I protested in a huff, but that was a complete lie. I realized that he was kind of- charming. There was no way I would let him know that though, figured his ego didn't need any more feeding.

"I guess we missed the place where I tell you my name and ask for yours," he smiled, and it was beyond weird that I didn't even recognize that we haven't properly met.

"Bet we have," I chuckled and took a big sip from the flask. "Felicia Wolf."

"Sirius Black. Nice to meet you, Wolf."

I could tell that he liked my last name and that he would often call me by it.

And I wasn't wrong.


	2. Broomsticks and a Cigarette

It didn't take him long to introduce me to his friends. To my pleasure, my first observations have been accurate so far. _Remus Lupin, _as he told me himself with his soothing voice was as smart as he seemed. I didn't get what he had in common with the riot brothers though; Potter & Black Co. But it takes more than just a couple hours to figure out the dynamics of a group, so I'm sure there's more to him than just being calm and smart.

Peter on the other hand, was making me nervous to talk to. He didn't seemed to mind though, anxiously giggling to every single thing we say, he just sat there and did his best. I felt sorry for him, in a way, and also I was surprised that James and Sirius were friends with him. They couldn't be as much of jerks as they made out of themselves.

The guys were fun to talk to, and definitely warm-blooded.

_3 hours in,_ and Black was bold enough to drink from my flask. Not that I'd let him though, after he asked a bunch of times more, I found him a cup and poured some.

_5 hours in,_ and I know all about the leading lady of Potter's unrequited love story; Evans pentalogy. Summary of 5 years in a couple hours.

Apart from two short trips to my room for a Firewhisky refill, we didn't leave the table. We just sat there and talked about Quidditch, music, some concerts, our favorite drinks and well of course, Evans.

_Aren't she like the sun, _Potter said.

_Her eyes are just like emeralds, _Potter said.

When Black brought up her terrible attitude, James protested right away but seemed like he was alone in that one. Remus was completely agreeing with Sirius, and even Peter said something about how mean she is to Potter. Then they argued about it for a while, and I let them talk. I didn't want to talk about myself so I was all for changing the subject when I feel there was a question in my way. As I drank the final drops of my drink, the room was finally getting hotter. I know my limits, and I usually don't drink enough to get myself drunk, so I guess that was my call to call it a day, at least for a few hours.

Getting sick of all the Lily argument, James suddenly turned to me. "So, what are you going to do till school? We still have one more week."

That was also the question I was asking myself all day.

"I don't know," I said, sounding more bored than I planned. "Read, doodle, and have drinking contests with Tom the bartender, I guess."

Peter and Remus chuckled, as Black turned to Potter eagerly. So, they are one of those friends who can communicate without words.

"Why don't you take back what you paid here for a week-" James started,

"And come have drinking contests with us instead!" and Sirius finished for him. Liking the idea, the three of them looking at me with huge smiles on their faces. Peter, as usual, was making himself busy with his teacup.

"I don't now-" I mumbled. Leaky Cauldron was my final chance to have some solitude. In Hogwarts I would be sharing a bedroom with girls, and the common room with loads of people. A week with strangers? Even though they seemed fun, I really didn't know what to say.

"His family won't be around for another ten days. Me, James and Moony are staying at the Potters-Quarters." Black said, his hand was running through his hair again. With Moony, I guess he was referring to Remus. They often used this weird nicknames and hadn't explain to me yet.

Just as I started to think that maybe it would be fun, James jumped right in.

"Oh_ come on, _we won't bite!"

Did Potter and Black throw a glance at Remus, or was it just me? They all literally _giggled_ as I kept thinking. Remus' laugh was a bit forced, I guess. As if he sensed my hesitation, he told me what I exactly needed to hear.

"Of course, you don't have to spend every waking minute with us."

Right next to me, Sirius grinned and mouthed- _*You-have-to-though*_

I couldn't help but smile as Remus ignored Sirius and kept talking. "Me and Sirius can stay in the living room, and you can have our room. Promise I will make them leave you alone when you want it."

_*No-he-can't* _Black mouthed again, cheekily shaking his head from side to side.

"So, what do you say? It will be like - say - an adjustment camp of what would it be like if you'll sorted into Gryffindor." James insisted. They were really hard to resist, I imagined how they must be making girls crawl at Hogwarts. I didn't know about James, but as far as I could tell Black was a total ladies man.

The Sorting Hat and the first day ceremony was the last thing I wanted to think about. In fact, there were loads of things I didn't want to think about. I knew that I'd be driving myself insane if I was alone with my thoughts, so I gave in, what would I have to lose anyway? I could always come back here if I'm bored enough. Looking at James, I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh shut it Potter, you just want another victim to talk about Evans, don't you?"

All of them, even that Pettigrew kid cracked up over what I said. Glad to see that James was so cool about Evans related jokes, well, he must be getting them _a lot. _

"So, are you coming or what?" James asked again, and just like that, with my single nod, Sirius was already headed towards my room to take all of my stuff.

* * *

Potter's house was the homeliest place I'd ever seen. Everywhere was filled with family pictures, comfortable couches and nice, cozy furniture. It was nothing like I knew of a house. Mine is -or was- waaaay different than his place, boring, intimidating portraits of my ancestors, depressing wallpapers, huge dining rooms and bunch of guest rooms we barely use. Thinking about that place, I got nervous.

On the other hand, James's home was so welcoming. So warm that I felt even more like a stranger than I am. I was just standing there in the middle of the living room, not knowing what to do with myself. On the walls, little baby James' were smiling at me. The woman next to him -his mother I suppose- was really, really beautiful. She had this contagious smile that made me smile too.

"Hey Wolf, think fast!"

With that, I caught a glimpse of a Butterbeer bottle flying at my way. It was an easy catch, so I got it right away. With another bottle in his hand, Black winked at me and we had another distant _cheers,_ again.

"Sharp reflexes. If you are a Gryffindor, I'd like to have you in the trials for my Quidditch team."

I twisted open the Butterbeer and fired back, "Maybe I should be in another house then. It would be more fun to kick your ass."

"You wish darling." Black smirked and throw himself in the couch. "Your stuff is upstairs, except for your broom. James put it in the back yard next to ours, we train most of the afternoons."

"Thanks."

"You know I'll be laughing like a mad man when I see you all lined up with that first graders, right? You'll really stick out, with your height and all.."

I sat on the armchair across him, and rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah? Then I'll make sure that every single _girl _in Hogwarts know how you freaked out upon taking me for a first grader."

"It seems fair to me," said Remus, and I didn't even saw him coming. He took his place right next to Black and looked at me with his smiling eyes. "What are you doing here a week earlier," he then asked. "If you don't want to talk about it, it's absolutely fine though."

I was just about to find an evasive answer when Potter came to my rescue. "So!" he piped up as he threw himself on the other single chair. "This year, you've _got to_ be best friends with Lily."

I was determined to drag this conversation, willing to talk about anything but myself. "Yeah, but how am I supposed to do that? I'm the new girl, I bet she had have bunch of best friends in what, five years?"

"You became our friend within hours, right. It wouldn't be so hard." Remus said and I smiled in return. He was right- in a way, but I still had my doubts. It's easier with guys. I'm not one of those girls who can only hang out with guys, no, but as much as I want it, I always had hard time befriending girls. Except _her, _though, but she was miles away..

"Promise I'll try my best, Potter." Yet, what good would I do if _he _couldn't make it happen in five long years? It would be an interesting year for me, that was for sure. "So, could you at least get a little kiss from her in all those years? Even a peck on the cheek?"

Black started laughing so hard that he couldn't even came up with a mocking respond, so Remus took over. "He didn't even hold her hand for Merlin's sake."

James rolled his eyes for the first time, I guess we've reached his vulnerable spot. Guys seemed to take notice as well, so we didn't make any further comments.

Hours passed by as we quietly rested on our couches. At some point, I brought some records from my trunk and we listened to them from James' father's magical record player. We drank some more and talked about unimportant stuff. Black and I were really good at mocking each other, so we couldn't go an hour without some smart-ass comebacks. It was three in the morning when Remus passed out, and James got too drunk to have a normal conversation.

It was then, my favorite Muggle band's best song came up. _Tea For One._

"Zeppelin? Are you kidding me?" Sirius squeaked with his eyes wide open. "Are you into Muggle music?"

"Boy," I said, getting all defensive from his reaction. "They make _real _music. Besides, I think they are Wizards in disguise, actually. There's no wa-"

"There's no way a man can play _that _good." Black finished my words with astonishment. "I've been telling this to Remus forever."

So I was wrong, he actually _liked _them. Maybe I've drank too much to make reliable judgements. Shaking my head slowly, I got up from my chair. Suddenly, the room was not so stable anymore, but it's nothing that I'm not used to. Some air, and a cigarette would be perfect, so I headed towards the back yard. There was no way that woman in the pictures let anyone smoke in this house, I though.

"Going in the middle of this song, well, it better be important." Sirius called out behind me, having hard time adjusting his voice. Boy, we all drank a little more than necessary.

"When you gotta smoke you gotta smoke!" I yelled back and got out, welcomed by chilly, fresh air. The back yard was nice, they had a miniature, makeshift Quidditch field and our brooms were lying under the keeps. I hadn't fly all summer, I was longing for some heights.

With the burning cigarette between my lips, I took my place on my beloved broom and softly kicked the ground.

Merlin, I missed it even more than I thought.. The wind was dancing through my hair even though I was flying very slowly. After drawing a couple of circles above the yard, I stopped my broom about five feet from the ground. The night was not so young anymore, but I could still see the stars. Taking a drag from my cigarette, I decided it would be best to quit if I'm going to make it to a Quidditch team. It wasn't a long term habit anyway, it was something I hold on to every once in a while, in order to keep my sanity.

Down below, I saw Black walking to the keeps. It was then, I realized that there was no way I could avoid a personal conversation. I didn't think of him as someone who would be interested in some girl's troubles, but somehow they all seemed to take an interest in my situation from the beginning. I dodged so many questions in just one day, so, how long could I keep running? I wasn't that nervous though, I thought Remus would be the one to push this further. Black seemed to forget when I changed the subject, in fact, his questions were out of curiosity only, in my opinion. I didn't think that he _really _wanted to know. As for Potter, well, he was easy to avoid, all you had to do is to bring up Evans.

"You know, at first I thought you were a typical Beauxbatons girl." Sirius then said, he was on his broom, on the air and right next to me. "Your accent, and the fact that you had a shitload of clothes and stuff so that's why your trunk was _that _heavy."

I really had no idea where he was going with it, so I got comfortable on my broom, sitting sideways, facing him. His silver eyes were sparkling in the dark. I always liked grey eyes.

"_But. _After spending the day with you, I know you're nothing like that. Also, I can literally _smell _the _Undetectable Extension Charm. _Undetectable my ass, Wolf, call me Snivellus if you didn't use that charm on your trunk. It must be the size of a studio apartment inside."

"Snivel-"

"Trust me, the later you know about him the better. Also enough with ditching personal questions love, now tell me. When did you ran away from home?"

What in the-

He really threw me a curveball there, that bastard. I never thought he would be the one to bust me. I never thought of him as the one to catch up on little details, but then again, I didn't know him at all, it's been half a day since I met him. Damn, I hate it when my first impressions are wrong.

There was no point in changing the subject so I just looked him in the eye and deadpanned.

"End of June. I've been wandering ever since."

"I ran away last Christmas. Potters took me in."

I was out of words. What was the possibility of him being a runaway too? I should've known though, his entire stuff was up in the room where James fixed me. I knew if I were to ask him why, he would ask me back so I kept quiet. We looked at each other for a while without saying a word. I offered him the last drag of my cigarette and he quietly nodded. Our fingertips touched as I passed the bud to him and I saw the corner of his lips slightly curling upwards.

I guess he wasn't ready to talk about his situation either, otherwise, he would be all _tell me about it._

Glad that he didn't want to talk.

We spent two hours on that brooms listening to the choked music filtering from the closed back door until one of us decided it was time to go to sleep.

They were the first people on earth I became friends _this _easy.


	3. Felicia

"Calm down a bit, will you dear? We all know you're Wolf, you don't need to eat like one!" said Sirius, looking at me in utmost amusement. It's been only thirty minutes since we got into the train, and I've already eaten like, ten of those chocolate frogs. What can I say, we haven't had breakfast.

"Ah let me be alright, I wasn't allowed to stuff myself back in Beauxbatons. Cause we are _ladies _you know. None of you have any idea how hard it was to fit in their stupid uniform." I responded with sarcasm dripping down my words. Now that the conditions have changed, I am free of any of those silly formalities. Catching another of those frogs the last minute before he jumped out of the window, I grumbled. "That bitch of a headmistress.."

"You've got to be kidding, right? How come you lived up to their standards then, we all know how you are by now!" Potter asked wonderingly.

Gulping down my frog, I raised my brow and looked at him threateningly. "Oh, and what am I?"

Before James could give an answer, Black smirked and announced with open arms. "Anything but a lady."

Oh they had no idea. Being raised by a family like mine, and going to that school for five long, torturous years, they had no idea how familiar I am to all high formalities and how good I can act. Suddenly, I changed the way I sit and straightened my back. My arms were moving like water waves now, and my fingers were butterflies. I quickly tamed my rebellious shoulder-length blonde hair, and looked at Black with my eyelids dropped low. I blinked real slow, and talked with a voluptuous voice.

"_Bonjour, monsieur. Comment allez-vous?_"_  
_

Oh boy, you should've seen their faces.

Right in front of me, Potter and Black were looking at me with wide eyes and dropped jaws. Black was completely astonished, I could tell that not in a million years he could guess that I could be like this. I couldn't blame him though, after spending whole week drinking like fish and being constantly loud, he was right not to call me a lady.

"Bloody hell." James mumbled. "Stop it. I don't know you."

Remus was having most fun. "Look at him," he nudged me, his finger pointing Black. "I think you broke him."

After blinking a few of times, Sirius shook his head in slow motion and immediately went back to his cocky self. "Love, I'm never letting you speak English again."

"Oh, great." complained James, rolling his eyes. "You are under his radar now. He's gonna flirt with you mindlessly."

Remus laughed as Sirius shamelessly winked at me. I shrugged and grabbed a box of Sour Apple Bites. "Not bad, Black, you've figured out that I'm a girl. It took you only a week, but still, not bad."

He drew his wand and looked at me with his cheeky grin. Seconds later, red butterflies were flying around my head. "Oh trust me darlin', I _knew _you are a girl."

James, Remus and I sighed in unison, as his butterflies flied out from the window.

And four of us turned our heads towards the door, when a girl made a dramatic entrance.

"_Sirius. Orion. Black._"

I heard Remus' whistle, and James came right after. "Someone's *cough* in *caugh* trouble."

The girl was beautiful, I mean, really beautiful. She had this chocolate brown hair cassading down to her waist, and big, shiny green eyes. She could be the perfect fit for Beauxbatons actually. She was angry out of her mind, her brows furrowed and flames coming out of her eyes. Her hands were on her hips, and apparently, all she could see was Sirius Black.

"Not a single word in three months. I waited and waited and waited, but no, seems like your highness is too good to for a letter. You even said that you'd come visit me, you _jerk_!"

Oh Merlin, even her voice was beautiful. She had this cute accent that I thought was Italian. In the mean time, Sirius was eyeing her, pondering at his fastest. After a moment of silence, all he said was,

"Did I?"

Oh, you dumbass.

The girl got even more furious over his remark that she stomped his foot on the ground, with clenched fists. "Yeah, you did."

"Alright, Eva, but haven't we broke up _last year_?" Sirius said, with a confused expression on his face. Remus was shaking his head in disappointment as Potter couldn't even dare to look in the girl's direction anymore.

"And we had made up when Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup, remember? There was a party in the common room, and you guys had find a way to sneak drinks in, don't you remember?"

Sirius was looking at his current/ex girlfriend with a blank face, apparently waiting for her to figure it out by herself. She looked at him expectantly for like, ten seconds and then her expression changed slowly.

"Oh my god, you don't remember.."

James was looking from the window now, and I couldn't dare to watch the seen anymore either. We both looked at each other with the corner of our eyes and started a really low-tuned conversation about how interesting were the trees we pass by. Poor Remus was sitting on the corridor side, so there was nothing he could do but wait. He seemed to take a sudden interest in his hands though, with his head bowed low, he was studying his fingers. Damn, the situation was really awkward.

"You don't remember.." Eva said once more, this time she didn't sound that angry. She sounded- _hurt.  
_

"I'm so stupid." was the last things she said, then I heard the door hitting loudly against it's frame. It was only then, James, Remus and I dared to turn our heads.

"That was so low." Remus deadpanned, looking at Sirius with a dispirited face. "Even for you."

"Moony- I don't even remember!" Sirius squeaked. "Don't you know _how much _I drank that night? Prongs- you could've at least given me a heads up, we were together all summer!"

"The thing is," Potter started with his brows raised. Then he bit his bottom lip in guilt. "I don't exactly remember that night either."

Remus turned to James and calmly stated. "There's another thing you didn't remember. That you are the headboy and Lily's probably going to kill you. You're about the miss the meeting in the second compartment."

Potter's face went white as a bathroom sink, and he darted out so fast that I started to think maybe he apparated.

I turned my gaze to Sirius and tried to understand what was he feeling. It was nearly impossible.

"Ouch.." I said when our eyes met.

He grumbled and swoop over to James's seat, looking out from the window. "Yeah, whatever."

I was quietly going through the chocolate frog Wizard cards I collected all morning when Remus talked to me.

"So listen," he said, with an encouraging smile on his face. "About the Sorting Hat."

I sighed and he smiled again. It was only hours away and I really didn't want that moment to come. I didn't even know about Hogwarts houses that much, all I knew was the guys were all in Gryffindor and they were obsessively proud about it. Remus looked at me and didn't lose the happy expression on his face until I have a smile on my own as well.

"Don't worry, alright. He listens to you if you have a house in your mind."

I nodded and looked at him in gratitude. He's been really nice to me since our first encounter, and he was nice to have around at the times when Potter and Black are unbearable dimwits.

And we kept quiet till the end of the trip.

* * *

Seeing Hogwarts for the first time, I felt exactly like I felt when I was at Potter's. The castle was sublime and spacious, but comparing to Beauxbatons, the word was definitely "homy." Away from all the fuss, the ice sculptures and white & silver decoration, Hogwarts was exactly where I needed to be. The castle has this high ceilings and numerous witty paintings covering all the walls, and they turn even the simplest walk into a fun parade.

And the food. Oh, the food. I think I don't want to see anything edible for a while because I've never eaten this much before!

About the ceremony.. It was just as horrid as I feared it would be. I stood among the first graders for an hour with all tho school eyeing me, and I also had to went through Black's mocking smirk. He and Potter cheered for me when I sat on the stool, leaving whole school wondering how we know each other. Or, how I know _The _Sirius Black.

Oh yeah, he is really something in this school.

I don't want to talk about how I _literally _had a fight with the Sorting Hat and how desperately he wanted to place me into Slytherin. (_Trust me, they are the worst _Potter had said when we were in the carriages.) He insisted so bad that I started to think my father had found where I am and bribed the hat. Well, I won eventually, and he decided that I should be in Gryffindor.

Needless to say that Potter was beyond thrilled, now that I'll be sharing girl's dormitory with Evans.

Evans. I didn't know how that girl can be mean to anybody at first, for she was such an angel to me. That is, till I saw her with James for 3 minutes. Boy, she really can't stand him.

So, after a week, tons of homework and 47 questions about how I know Sirius Black, I was getting used to this place.

Apparently, being around Black at Hogwarts was torture. There were his many, many admirers and ex-girlfriends all around, and I was sick of being watched.

As for him, he was enjoying it so much. He liked it when the some girl 'accidentally' shouldered me on the halls, and he definitely laughed so hard when someone gives me crazy eyes because he was sitting next to me at common room or stealing a bite from my pancakes at breakfast. He was definitely doing that on purpose, offering to carry my books every single time a girl walks by and everything.

I didn't care for the crazy ones, but I was feeling really bad when I saw a girl looking at us with watery eyes. The ones that get sad, they were my problem. I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

Just because he calls me Wolf, people were howling when they pass me by, for fuck's sake.

Thanks to him, I was going to be completely friendless. (_Hey, you have us, don't you, _he said every time I complain. And when I said that I want some _girl _friends, Potter jumped right in and reminded me that I still couldn't manage to be "besties" with Lily.)

Only a week, and everything was hectic already.

I was struggling with my over-boring Divination essay when Sirius threw himself next to me on the couch and scared the shit out of me.

"How can you be so sneaky?" I protested, surprised at how he managed not knocking over my inkwell.

"How can you be so buried in your head?" he retorted, looking at me with a huge smile on his face. Than with his one eye on a girl sitting in the couch across the room, he leaned towards me and whispered. "Quidditch trials, friday afternoon. Don't forget." His breath tickled my ear, and I hear that girl closing her book loudly. It must be some girl he flirted earlier in the evening.

Quidditch trials. It's something that I was looking forward to, since there was an opening in the Beaters and it was easy to avoid eyes when you were flying. I nodded over his recall and tried not to look around much as he placed his arm on the backrest cushion behind me.

I was growing tired of it.

"You know what," I grouched, straightening my back and turning to him. "You have to stop it. You are hurting these girls and I really don't want to be a part of it. If you wanna be my friend, then fine, but I'm sick of people mistaken us for lovers and getting upset about it."

He furrowed his brows and looked at me as if I said something weird.

"You don't like being around me?"

It was unbelievable, he sounded almost _hurt._

"I like being around you, you are like the first friend I have here, glad you sat by me that day."

"So what's the problem Wolf?" he asked, with a forced smile on his face.

"The problem is, I don't want to hurt people's feelings when I'm with my friend. It's irrational."

I couldn't read his face. All I knew was that he was looking at me without a word, with a slight surprise he couldn't manage to hide.

"You know you're a piece of work, Felicia."

"What happened to Wolf?"

"I just wanted to say your name." he smiled, and kept looking at me. I still had no idea what he was thinking. So I stared back and waited for him to say something. I definitely was waiting for an explanation, or an answer to what I asked from him. But no, it was becoming this weird staring contest and he seemed to have no intentions of talking. I couldn't stand it.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just-" he huffed, not knowing how to explain it. "Different. Girls usually love it when I'm like this. And you didn't. You're weird." Looking at the state of my face he immediately added, "A good kind of weird and I don't know, I kind of liked it."

"Nice," I smiled, not knowing what else to say. "So, we good?"

"Yes love, don't worry. From now on, I'll behave around you." Apparently, there was nothing I could do about the way he talked.

But of course, he couldn't leave it at there so he winked shamelessly. "I can't make any promises about when I'm with other girls though."

"Fair enough."

"Good, now let's take a look at that bloody Divination essay."


	4. Wolf & Wolf

Finally, I was flying. I mean, properly flying. Not in a back yard, not only a few feet above; I was flying at full steam, and really high. It was like _Elixir to Induce Euphoria, _I couldn't stop smiling. My ponytail was fluttering around my head, and I kept going up and down. In and out of the keeps, around the bleachers, right above the central circle.. I was everywhere.

Sirius was trying to pick a new Chaser for the team. I could see him carefully observing the candidates with an intense look on his face. Actually, it was the first time I've seen him this serious about something. It was nice to see him caring about something for real. After two terrible auditions, he finally seemed to like that girl from the fifth grade. She was good, as far as I'm concerned. Even though I kept flying around her at an annoying speed, she didn't lose her concentration and according to what I've counted, she was the one who scored the most.

At the end of three hours, it was finally my turn. When I had told him I'd be playing Beater back in lunch yesterday, the pumpkin juice he was drinking came out from his nose. Aren't my arms too weak? Doesn't a Beater need to be someone bulky? And that kind of crap. I've been a Beater my entire life, and he'd be taught a lesson really soon.

"I didn't think that this would take too long." he called from the ground. It was only me and him left on the field. Rest of the students were either gone, or watching us from the bleachers. "Wanna continue tomorrow? The sun already went down, it's hard to see the Bludgers."

Was he trying to talk me out of it?

"Nope, I'm good. You'll see that I have a good night-vision. Less talkin' more walkin' Black, come on now."

"Whatever you say darling," he said, clearly happy about my enthusiasm. And he knelt beside the wooden trunk. It has been shaking all night, so I guess the Bludgers must be really bored by now.

"Ready?" he yelled, hardly pressing down on that little bastard anymore. And I shouted back.

"_Shoot._"

He only freed a single Bludger at first, and I prepared myself. Firmly holding the bat with my left hand, I locked my eyes with the target. In a way, Black was right, it wasn't easy seeing it in the night time, we should've lit all the lights instead of half. But I couldn't afford to give up now. Flying in circles, I kicked away the first one with the back of my bat, and watch him flying backwards behind me. This is a tactic called Bludger Backbeat, one of my favorites. During the game, it can really confuse the opponent. Doing that, I didn't really strained any. My arms were strong, especially, the left one. Since I was the only one up in the air, Bludger came back to me within seconds.

"Send it to the middle keep on the right side of the field!" Black shouted. The Bludger was dangerously close to me to make the move Black asked for, so I flew away from it to gain some time and elbow room. I was ready till it reached me again, and I made a pretty good stroke. It went right through the middle keep. I kind of scored with a Bludger now, funny. There was a change in the air, I could hear two balls tearing up the air, instead of one. He must've released the other one, but to my surprise, I really couldn't see it. The noise was pretty near and I had only seconds to act, I couldn't exactly sense its direction but with an instinct kicking in, I turned around.

It was nearly an arm-length away. To beat it more efficiently, I kind of pivoted and hit it with all my might. As it spiraled away, I immediately darted upwards to get a good view of the field. There, the other one was beneath me. I dived right in and tried to hit it with my right arm this time. My right arm is not as strong as my left, and my shoulder ached a bit when I stroked, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

Well, as far as I could see, two of them where coming at me at the same time this once. Finding the safest area to maneuver, I rapidly changed my place and took my both hands off this time. I was holding the bat was securely and measured the distance between two Bludgers in my head. For what I wanted to do, I needed them to have an angle in between. So quickly retrieving the handle, I soared. The Bludgers changed direction, and it was exactly what I need. Gripping it with both hands again, I hurled my bat and hit the first Bludger.

Yeah!

It happened exactly as I calculated, first Bludger hit the second one, and they both flew far off from me. I could hear Black's victorious laughter down there, and seconds later, he called for me.

"Come down, Wolf. It's enough."

I could also hear James cheering from somewhere. At some point, I swear I heard Remus' voice as well. Was he in the bleachers? Anyway, avoiding to get hit, I quickly descended and with my eyes still on the sky, I landed right next to Sirius. We both knew that the Bludgers would come back for us, so we just waited with open arms for a couple of seconds.

It hit me right in the chest, that mother-

I fell on the ground but didn't let it run away, and after locking his Bludger away, Sirius came to my help. A minute later, we were free.

I stood up and took off the hard leather armor, and tried to catch my breath. Plenty of water was what I needed.. In the meantime, Black was looking at me with shiny eyes. Quidditch had this really strong effect on him, and I could tell how happy he was cause of the team was coming together again.

"Maaan.." he said, really enjoying himself. "The whole school will die out of jealousy, because we kind of have the sexiest Beater in the history of Hogwarts!"

Smiling widely, I required. "So, am I in?"

"Oh you are so in, love. On two conditions though.."

"And they are happened to be?"

"Quit smoking, work out more. You are strong, I give you that. But I need you to be stronger and kick some serious ass."

He told me what I already had planned, so I nodded happily. He seemed really, really thrilled and it was contradicting with his usual careless self. I liked him being crazy about something other than girls. Smiling at him once again, I lightly punched him on his upper arm and headed towards the locker rooms.

"See you in the common room, captain!"

* * *

"I really don't know how you do it." I complained.

We were lying on our beds in the girls dormitory with Lily. She was brushing her hair, and I was trying to do a stupid homework that I remembered the last minute.

"I mean, you have Head Girl duties, you clearly have more classes than I do, that means you have more homework. You started studying for the N.E.W.T.s already, and you look fantastic all the time! I can't even go to breakfast and look like a human being at the same time! I usually had to skip breakfast and sleep in to be a bearable person."

Lily chuckled over what I said, and kept tidying her lovely red hair. She had the reddest of hair I've ever seen. "I just make plans and stick with them, I guess."

"Well, you are on a whole other level that I could never reach." I responded, looking at my unfinished essay. Lily stopped brushing her hair, and looked at me as if she couldn't decide whether say what she's going to say next or not.

"You know," she started politely, placing her comb on her lap. "Don't get me wrong, but I kind of heard what you said to Sirius last week, and I think it was really cool of you.."

I didn't know what to say and I had no idea how she heard us. I wasn't intended to be heard, in fact, all I wanted was to keep it simple and quiet. Starting to write with bigger and bigger letters with every new inch, I mumbled. "Yeah, it was nothing."

Even though I wasn't looking at her, I could feel her frowning. There was a slight change in her voice in the direction of bossiness, and I saw with the corner of my eye that her hands were on her hips now. "No, it was something. He and his friends are jerks, and you are the first one to put it into words. Well, besides me of course."

"Oh." I faltered, and put my quill down. I really didn't want to talk bad about them, especially to Lily. I could almost hear Potter screaming in my head "Trust me, they are not as bad as you think. I know Sirius can be a little too much sometimes, but overall, they are really nice. You know Potter-"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Please, don't get me started from that Potter kid. He's been my shadow for five years. He is rude to my friends. And on top of it, now I have to patrol with him almost every night."

Poor James.

"He opened up his house to me you know.. I didn't have a place to stay, and he took me in. He was nothing but nice to me, he even gave me his own room."

Oh Potter, you definitely owe me one.

"Is that so?" she asked, with a sudden interest in her voice. "James being nice to someone.. Maybe he likes you."

"Oh trust me dear, I'm not the one he likes."

She smiled involuntarily and started creaming her face. Before going back to the last lines of my essay, I looked at her and winked.

"Trust me, once you know him, he is not the kind of jerk you think he is."

* * *

Dinner at Hogwarts was one of my favorite times. Well, I am not good with breakfast and lunch so much, what I really care about is the desserts. Nibbling my potatoes, I was trying to pass the time till some pudding shows up on my plate. Across me, James was assaulting his roasted mushrooms.

"You know," he tried to say with a mouthful of food, "You eat way too little for a Beater. Come on, have some chicken over there."

"James is right you know, I think I'm gonna have to protect you from those Slytherin jackboots at the game. Have you _seen_ them?" said Sirius, looking at me rather worried.

"If you keep twaddling, you gonna have to protect _yourself_, Black. From me." I really hate it when someone questions my talent. Or strength. Pushing away the potatoes on my plate, I glared at him. "You know what, maybe I'll practice on you. To gain some arm muscle, huh?"

"Alright lady Wolf, calm down-" said James, defensively raising his hands, and I sent a glare in his way.

"I put a good word for you last night, talking to Evans. Is that how you thank me Potter?"

"A good what? Lily- What?"

It never ceases to amaze me how James turns into this huge dork when Lily is the main topic. I couldn't hide my grin, but didn't say a word. I wanted him to strive a bit more. Is it cruel of me? Well, he shouldn't have doubted me.

"I wasn't serious, you know. What- what did you say?"

Even though I didn't wanted to eat, I took a huge bite from my meal and started chewing really slow. I mean, reaally slow. I could see the colour of James' face changing as he gradually lost his patience. Sirius must be proud with me. His and Remus' eyes were taking turns on James and me, trying to guess how soon he would break down. I started feeling bad for him after hearing his fork impatiently hitting his plate. I secretly looked around to see if Lily was near by the way, and luckily, she wasn't.

"Oh come on Felicia, what did you say?"

That was my call.

"I told her that you weren't the jackass she likes to think you are. I actually told her that you are very nice."

His face was priceless.

"I am! I am nice! And what did she say in return?"

I was really looking forward to see his reaction to what I was going to say next. I put my fork aside, and rested my chin on my palm. "She thinks that you're into me. Giving me place to stay and all."

"Oh that wasn't even my-"

Then I heard a rumbling coming from under the table, and the juices in our glasses vibrated. I could've sworn that James has been kicked by someone, but Sirius and Remus both had poker faces. As for James, his cheeks were reddened from the pain. Trying to keep a flat voice, he looked at me and started a whole another sentence this time.

"I invited you, because I really am nice Felicia, didn't you say that?"

I really wanted to push this matter forward and figure out why they suddenly gotten all weird, but something I forgot to do that evening struck my mind. I had forgotten to check on Nox. Drinking what was left from my pumpkin juice at one draught, I attempted to stand up.

"Oh relax Potter, of course I did. It's not like she _really _thinks that you're into me, after five years of being chased by you! She was interested in the thought though, you should be with other girls more often. Maybe she'll jealous."

My words seemed to open him a brand new window, as his put on his tinker face and didn't even notice that I was about to go any minute now. Giving up on him, I turned to Remus and Sirius.

"Alright, gentlemen, I'm out. Gotta check on Nox."

Sirius gave me a quick two fingered salute and a wink, as Remus peacefully waved. I could barely find the time to salute back as making my way out of the Great Hall quickly. How could I forget to see Nox? Hogwarts was really compelling me with this busy sixth year schedule. Damn, I also missed the dessert time.

Walking to the stairs, I took the path that goest to Owlery. It was one of those limited places I know how to go in this huge castle, and needless to say, it was pretty far. Begging to Merlin for a switchless stair-time, I quickly climbed the stairs. In what kind of school does the stairs decide to change direction? I really don't like it when I'm in the middle of a set of steps and suddenly I'm not going to the fourth floor anymore. Luckily, nothing happened and I quickly got to the West Tower in no time. I wanted to catch my breath but I wanted to see Nox too, so, no breaks.

The Owlery was on top of the tower where you had to climb numerous step that goes spiraling up. There was no windows up and it was almost cold and windy. If I didn't know how thick and strong Nox's feathers were, I'd be worrying about him all the time. On my way up, I quickly pull the hoodie of my robe over my head and searched for his beautiful, blue wings.

There he was, settled in between two school Owls, looking cheerful upon my arrival. He immediately rubbed the top of his head to my palm, and I placed little kisses on his beak. His claws were empty with nothing attached. I've sent them back to France again, in hopes of getting an answer from _her,_ I even told Nox to don't shut up until she writes, but apparently, it didn't work.

"She didn't write, did she?" I mumbled, combing his wings with my fingers. He hooted somberly.

"Sorry to send you all the way in vain."

Nox has been with me since I was 4 years old, he was a really precious gift. He's blue, which is rather rare for a Great Horned Owl, but trust me, it suited him really well. I don't know what I'd do if anything happens to him. I've read it somewhere that if taken good care of, they could live up to 50 years. Well, I am taking really good care of him. Even better than I tend to myself, to be honest.

It was so cold up there and I didn't like it in the Owlery. There was great room for self-consuming thoughts without being bothered by someone for hours. So I finally gave up. I really didn't know how long could I keep running, so I sat on the cold hard ground with Nox landed on my shoulder, and let loose.

For it all went pretty quickly, I haven't realized what I've really done, up to now. I've left my family and changed my school, practically changed _side. _Paid a small fortune to a trickster in Knockturn Alley to magically fake my parents' signature so that I could be transferred to Hogwarts. Vanished without a trace, not letting anyone know, especially, other Wolfs. I was certain that no one would ever look for me though, doing what I did, I must be practically banished.

Leaving _her _was the worst. I don't even know how could I ever gather the strength to do such thing, yet, I had to. Will I be able to make things right with her ever again, or-

I don't want to think about it. If my tears weren't nearly frozen on my face, I would have no idea that I was crying. Nox hates it when I cry, and he started to tug at my hair already. I let him lightly peck my finger for a while, and stood up to leave when my teeth started to chatter. I definitely, definitely couldn't afford to be sick.

Don't even know how I got to Gryffindor Tower, I swear, I think I got lost at some point. Glad that I made it to common room somehow in the end. That's why I don't like to think, my mind has no filter and it can bring me down in split seconds. Still feeling cold, I held on to my robe tightly and sat right in front of the fireplace. When did it got this late? The common room was totally empty, there was no voice coming from the dorms.

It's been only ten minutes when someone came in from the portrait hole.

It was Remus. I caught a glimpse of what looked like a folded parchment in his hand, but he quickly put it into his pocket. He was looking weary.

"When did you get back? I was looking for you everywhere. I thought you were lost and went looking for you." he said in relief, and kept walking towards me. I wasn't fond of the idea of talking at that moment, so I just shrugged. His face changed as he neared me, and when he finally got by the fireplace, his eyes widened.

"Felicia," he said, quickly sitting next to me. "What happened?"


	5. The Black

So there he was, sitting next to me, waiting for answers. There was something about Remus that makes you feel like you can tell him _anything, _but I really wasn't in the mood for a heart to heart. I lightly waved my hand in front of my face to make it seem like something insignificant, which, by the way he didn't believe me the slightest.

He didn't smile at my stupid gesture to not make me feel like stupid. Instead, he just quietly asked. "Homesick?"

Come on Remus, you can do better than that. I am anything but homesick. With the corners of my lips slightly curled upwards, I shook my head no. God, I wish I was homesick, then I wouldn't have a problem to begin with. I think Remus always sensed that something wasn't right about me, but he never pressured. He was one of those people who asks questions to make sure you are OK, not in the name of nosiness. Whenever he felt that I wasn't comfortable about a question, he immediately stepped back.

I wondered what he meant by _homesick. _Sirius was the only one who knew about my little 'runaway' situation, and I really hoped that he didn't gave my secret away. Then again, they are beyond close to each other, and their friendship may have overcome our acquaintance.

I was barely talking to him, so I got afraid that he might feel unwanted around me. I really didn't mind that he sat by me, as long as I don't have to tell about me. Turning my eyes from the sparkles coming out of logs, I looked at him.

"What made you think that I'm homesick?" I was really careful about not sounding hostile or anything.

"I mean, didn't you changed schools after 5 years?" Remus said, trying to empathize. "You made it clear that you didn't like it there, but, still.. Don't you miss your friends?"

Well, he had no idea. I silently thanked Black for keeping my secret to himself.

It sucks to lie to someone as kind as Remus, but I didn't feel like talking about home. I had to get it out of my head as soon as possible, and constantly bringing up wouldn't do me no good. School however, was a safe topic.

"Yeah," I said, my eyes not leaving the flames dancing in the fireplace right in front of us. "Missing some of them. Happy to leave most though, not going to lie."

"Liking here so far?"

"Yeah, thanks to you all. Everyone's so.. Welcoming.. Except for Black's admirers though."

I rolled my eyes and Remus chortled.

"Oh, and thank you for searching for me and all. I was really lost, by the way. This castle is impossible sometimes."

Remus was just about to make a comment when we heard the giggles. First I heard some flirty joke the Fat Lady told, then Sirius came in, all snuggled up to someone. Not noticing us, they kissed in the entrance for a while. Remus was too decent to look as always, and after watching them for a while I joined him at his not-looking business. It was so awkward to sit there and listen to the noises they made. Unfortunately, a log suddenly decided to have a small explosion, and I guess Sirius and the girl he snogged finally took notice our presence. The girl was the girl I saw in train; Eva.

Sirius paused upon seeing us and turned to Eva.

"Let's see each other in the morning dear, alright? Sleep well."

And they snogged for another good minute.

When his girlfriend gone, Sirius almost sprinted towards us and nailed his eyes on me. Then, stated the obvious.

"You've got bloodshot eyes."

"It's nothing."

"No, it's not nothing."

I didn't exactly catch the look him and Remus exchanged, but there must be something for Remus suddenly decided to go to sleep. I smiled before he went, and thanked him once more. Even his presence was enough to make me feel a lot better. Without really saying anything, he had given me some sense of peace. When he climbed the stairs to boys dormitory and closed the door behind him, Sirius took his place. He sat next to me by the fireplace, and tried to look me in the eye. I, however, was decided not to. I must have been watching the logs burn down for at least twenty minutes now, but still, they weren't boring to look at. It was hypnotizing, like some kind of therapy.

"First months are the hardest." he said silently. His eyes were still on me and I really wasn't used to him being worried.

"I'm really alright though."

"Then why are you crying?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

It was really hot in where we sit and my cheeks were already burning, so I haven't noticed the warm tears streaming down my face. I hate crying with company, it makes me feel out in the open, kind of.. Naked. The comfort of my bed seemed like the best option at the moment and I chained some quick excuses about how I needed to go to sleep. However, I was unable to move for Sirius was holding my arm.

"Don't go till you're at least a bit better."

I pulled out my flask from the inside pocket of my robe and sighed. After a major sip, I looked at Sirius for the first time. To my surprise, he was looking pretty bummed out. Without a word, I offered him the flask.

"Oh, does that mean now you like me enough to drink from the same flask." he joked, and smiled halfheartedly. It was nice to hear him joke again then to get all worried about me.

"Maybe, Black, but don't get too cocky." This time it was my turn to smile as he drank his share and passed me the flask. His eyes were filled with the expectation of me finally breaking down and talking for hours, but I knew that it won't be happening any time soon. I felt the unbearable urge to skip the subject again, and looked at him with a grin on my face.

"So Eva, huh?"

"Yeah." Sirius said with a wink, but there was something weird about him. Maybe he didn't like the fact that I went off topic. So we sat there for a while doing nothing but drinking and watching the flames. Our hands touched when we passed the flask along and it was our only interaction. For a moment, I saw the corner of his lips curling, just like the way it did when we shared a cigarette back in Potter's place.

I was starting to think that we'd fall asleep without another word when Sirius finally spoke.

"Trust me, it doesn't get any easier when you keep it all to yourself. I've talked James' head off for months. Even his father's, at some points."

I smiled upon thinking him ranting in the Potter's-Quarters with Mr Potter and James listening, maybe Mrs Potter baking them some cookies and grumbling about what kind of mother wouldn't go looking for her son. But I wasn't quite there yet, it wasn't my time to open up. I couldn't keep my chuckle.

"What?" Sirius asked, turning his head.

I looked into his eyes and chuckled once more about his defensive tone. "Nothing. It's just.. You didn't strike me as the 'talk-about-it' kind, that's all."

"Oh, and what did I strike you as?"

"Keep-it-to-yourself-and-it'll-all-go-away kind, I guess."

"Darling, suppose it's you. I talk about anything with those chumps. Remus, James and Peter, they're my family."

"You're lucky then."

Then we didn't talk again for another ten minutes. It was nice to be able to sit so silent with someone, and it was the second time Black and I did such thing. He wasn't suffocate you with questions, nor waiting proper answers when he asked one. He seemed to understand when you want to avoid, and the weird thing was, he always got the meaning hidden behind my evasive answers and irrelevant questions to avoid talking about myself. When I'm silent with him, I didn't feel the need to say something. It was never awkward.

Then suddenly-

Merlin's bloody beard!

For weeks, I was so concentrated on myself that I didn't even question _his _situation. It was right in front of me all this time, and I didn't even bothered to get curious about why _he _ran away.

It was a piece of cake, it was literally right in front of me! I can't even-

"Black." I said in a breath, it was rather a statement than just saying his name, and of course, he got me. There was a smirk forming on his face as I reported his name again.

"_the _Black."

"Yup."

"Toujours Pur."

"His very self." Sirius said, then put the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically. "Love, you really need to talk French more often."

I shook my head in disbelief to the limits to my own head's thickness. We had a portrait of his Great-Great-Grandmother hanging in one of our stupid hallways back home, and all this time I couldn't notice who he was.

"I was waiting for you to figure out you know, but really was starting to think that you were the wrong Wolf."

Of course he knew me. That's the thing about families obsessed with Pureblood, they all know each other. We didn't know each other by names, but I'm sure I had stumbled upon him dozens of times looking through the book of family trees. I really, really couldn't believe it still. Sirius waited patiently as I freaked out inside my head, and he was looking at me with a huge grin on his face when I was finally out of it. I grinned back, and we stared at each other in great understanding.

"Does others know?" then I asked, not wanting to spread who I was like wildfire.

"Nope, I don't bother them with these noble bullshit. Most of the Slytherins know though, that's for sure."

I shrugged and devoured what's left in the flask, leaving Sirius a sip or two. Frowning as alcohol teared my throat apart like hot lava, I passed it along.

When Black drank the rest, we looked at each other and roared in unison.

"I_ definitely _now why you ran away_._"  
"I_ definitely _now why you ran away_._"

Glad we didn't wake anyone up with the laughter session that followed.

* * *

A/N: I'm going for a little vacation, so no new chapters for like a week. Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Also, this one's a little short because I didn't want to add another scenes or skip to another day within this chapter. I like it as it is, just a conversation between three friends.


	6. The Hex

_Hey, again. _

_I figured it out by now that you don't wish to talk to me. I hope you understand, by all means, it won't keep me from writing anyways. _  
_I'm missing you every second of every day. I know, you're thinking that I shouldn't have left you behind, but see, it wasn't even an option to take you with me. Suppose you wouldn't even want to come with me to begin with, though. You just wanted _me_ to stay.  
Again, that wasn't an option either.  
You are the only one who understood even a whisper of me, please, keep it that way.  
I know you can feel it in your bones, the reason I left, I know you do._

_Just because I'm no longer a part of the family, doesn't mean you're not a part of me.  
If you ever want to see me, anytime, just name the place and I'll be there._

_Yours faithfully,_

_~A._

After sending another letter probably going to be left unanswered, I was on my way to meet Sirius and the rest of the Quidditch team. There was only one week to the first game of the season, and Sirius had a murderous training program for us. Hours of practice caused us to miss dinner, and my quick run to the Owlery right after the session had completely drained me. My only desire was to hit the bed and sleep till breakfast, but Sirius ridiculously insisted that I should meet them at a corridor he described at least a dozen times for me to find.

However, all that's left in my mind was a painting with some fruits on it. After a month in Hogwarts, I was still a hopeless case when it comes to finding directions. In my defense, the others had been here since 11, and I was only a newcomer. I knew Beauxbatons like the back of my hand, yet, Hogwarts was a whole another case.

I was about to give up after taking some wrong turns and finding myself near the Transfiguration classroom, but a portrait of a professor was kind enough to help me out by walking with me going through from one painting to another. When I finally found the place, there was only Sirius standing in front of that portrait by himself, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor.

"You said it would only take _five _minutes, Wolf, but I've been waiting for thirty!"_  
_

I rolled my eyes and tried to catch my breath from all the running as he turned to the painting.

"Give me a break Black, I got lost again. I swear this castle-"

"Dude, it's been a month." he mumbled under his breath, and started _tickling _the pear in the painted bowl. I give up. There is no way for me to learn all the weird shit going on in this castle.

The pear started giggling, and before I could question what was going on, it slowly turned into this green handle of a door. Chuckling at my bewilderedness, Sirius pulled the painting open like a door, and winked at me. Doing some theatrical gesture towards the door, he bowed his head and bade.

"After you, _Mademoiselle_."

With a smile full of sarcasm on my face, I dropped an exaggerated curtsey and went right in. It was a new joke between us. Since I figured out about his dynasty, we were constantly mocking our noble, pureblooded families with these ridiculous gestures. Turns out we knew a lot of things about all the formalities, even though we both hate them with passion. After all the years I've spent learning all those useless stuff, I've finally found a use for them; having fun with Black.

Anyways. When I stepped in through the painting-door, a_ kitchen _was the last thing I was expecting to see. We were in a huge kitchen with boiling pots and cauldrons and all. There were hundreds of House-Elves rushing around. I didn't know that there was House-Elves at Hogwarts. The kitchen was warm and lovely, but I wasn't sure if we were _allowed _in there. The Elves seemed so eager about feeding us though, so I didn't mind.

Rest of the team was already settled themselves around a table, and dug their heads in some bowls and plates. James didn't even bothered to swallow before talking to me when he saw that we finally arrived.

"Only 40 minutes Felicia, it's a new record!" With a slice of bread in one hand, and a glass of pumpkin juice in the other, he slowly clapped me and I heard Sirius laughing next to me.

"Oh-kay Potter, very funny, but we've been through this with Black already. Now, scoot over and let me eat. I'm on the edge of dying here."

In a blink of an eye, one of the House-Elves had brought me a plate already. A plate full of desserts instead of a proper dinner. It was all I could ask for, all I really wanted but how could the Elf know what I wanted? I was looking around in the hopes of finding an answer when my gaze met Black's sitting across me. He winked with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Promised it would worth all the tiredness, haven't I?"

Couldn't talk with a mouthful of Chocolate Gateau, I did my best to smile. Damn, the cake was pure heaven and it already took most of my weariness away. Stabbing my Treacle Tart with the tip of my fork, I happily listened as Black gave us one of his motivational speeches. Man, he really wanted to win the cup. Being just as eager, Potter was constantly chopping him off to talk about a different tactic or to swear at a Slytherin player. We were like a happy family dining at a restaurant on a sunday afternoon, then again, what do I know about happy families?

It was the first time all of us spend this much time together away from the field. Yes, we are all in the same house but there are players from every grade. Evan Cormier, was in the fourth grade and after all the training, he was still a bit shy around us. He was one of the tree chasers, others being Arista Timmons from fifth grade and Mary Mcdonald from sixth. The girls are pretty good and had decent broomsticks, as for Evan; despite his shyness he was really quick, and sharp on the reflexes.

Logan Mckenzie, the other Beater of the team was sitting crosswise, seemingly finished with eating and getting bored of the trash talk. He was a seventh grader and been a member of the team for 6 years now. We had a good rhythm going on during the practices, and I was really hopeful about the game ahead of us. He turned this eyes on me as if he had read my mind, and raised his brow.

"So," he said, after taking a sip from his Bubble Juice. "Been a long time since I last played with a lefty. Did you know that it's the perfect scenario for a team to have two Beaters using different hands."

"Yeah," I answered, of course I knew. "I'm planning on doing at least one Dopplebeater Defence*. Hope you're good at it."

Potter's trash talk was contagious, I suppose. Logan didn't seem to mind though, he looked glad, even. "Then we'll practice some more, alright?"

I nodded while trying to squeeze a huge bite of French Fancy in my mouth, and I heard Black roaring at my struggle.

"French Fancy for _the_ _French Fancy." _he piped up, and handed me a napkin. I sighed as wiping my lips, and when finally managed to gulp down, I looked at him right in the eyes.

"Why don't you go check on your _Italian _Fancy? We've been basically living on the field, bet she'd missed you."

James and Mary threw a sharp whistle as Evan and Arista laughed without looking at Sirius.

* * *

Apart from Quidditch and my limited spare time, Hogwarts was really pushing me to the limits. Lily was keeping a tight rein on me right from the moment she had figured out that I had to take O.W.L.s at the end of the year with fifth graders. In Beauxbatons, O.W.L.s take place in sixth grade and Dumbledore made an arrangement for me to take the exams this year.

So, I was constantly on Lily's radar. Whenever she sees me doodling on some parchment instead of studying, she makes this long speeches about the importance of Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. I don't want to sound ungrateful though, she took so much time off to tutor me, helping me with the English versions of the lectures and everything. And lately, she started asking me questions about Potter.

Potter. To his surprise, our tactic seemed to work on Lily. The tactic required James to be _cool, _and for Remus and I to keep him that way when Lily's around. It was impossible to keep his mouth shut at first, I swear, I even ended up casting a spell on him once. He stopped following Lily wherever she go, and after a while we got him to the point where he wasn't attempting to flirt with her in the Common Room every waking moment. _  
_

Then Lily began to notice. She was incredibly sweet asking me about where _that annoying boy_ was nowadays, trying to sound all uninterested. And in the last Potions class, I saw her checking up on James if he was looking. To Potter's luck, she missed him with a nanosecond. Peter kicked him in the leg afterwards, and he tried to keep his eyes on his cauldron for the rest of the lecture.

When we weren't in the Quidditch practice, it was mostly me, James, Peter and Remus. Sirius was spending his entire time with Eva, trying to make out at every inch of the Castle obviously. During the training I've gotten close with Mary, and Lily was becoming a really close friend. However, Eva was - I don't know - kind of offish. She hardly ever talks to me when they - she and Black - hang out with us, she also doesn't join our long pillow talks in the dormitory that much. Mary was thinking that it's about Black and me, she even dropped some annoying hints a few times, but I turned a deaf ear.

Anyways.

After a long studying session with Lily, I was finally free to spend some time doing something not involving any quill or parchment. We were playing Gobstones with Peter and he was about to lose. Remus, on the couch opposite to ours was drawing constellations for Astronomy and trying to talk James out of some evil prank he was planning to pull on Severus.

"Are you an idiot?" Remus asked, sounding unexpectedly stolid. "You only gonna play into his hands. All the progress with Lily, it'll all go to vain."

"Moony, remember?" James grumbled frowningly. "Not _m__oody._"

Me and Peter giggled in unison.

"I'm just saying." Remus stated, dipping his quill into the inkwell. And just like a little child, James huffed.

"Alright, alright. This better work though, I've been breaking my back to stay away from Lily."

Then it happened. The Fat Lady let two students in, one of them stormed off to the girls dormitory in only a few seconds, and the other just stood there, dumbstruck and desperate. We heard the dormitory's door thundered close, and in the meantime I made my final move in the game.

"Crap - Felicia! I wasn't even looking!" Peter squeaked, trying to wipe the disgusting liquid off of his face, only to spread it even more. Gobstones was one of my favorite games, but I don't play it unless I'm going to win for sure. The putrid liquid the stones spat to the loser is one of the most hideous things I've ever seen and smelt.

As Peter left for the bathroom and James and Remus was done laughing, we turned our attention back to what just happened. Black was still standing at the entrance with an utmost anger. He silently cursed before sitting where Peter was seconds ago.

"Padfoot," James asked cautiously, "What just happened?"

"Damned if I know." Sirius retorted, trying to pull something out from his inside pocket. It was a roll of parchment, bonded with a piece of black, velvet ribbon. He then handed it to me, with his other hand impatiently ruffling his hair. "It's for you."

What the hell was going on?

I attempted to untie the ribbon but he immediately stopped me. "If you do that, the hex would be broken within five minutes. Use it wisely so it would worth the trouble Eva gave me."

"Come again?" I said, frowning.

He didn't seem to listen though, "Is your flask with you?" he asked, instead of giving me an answer. I pulled it out and handed to him. He was really annoyed by something. Heavily annoyed. Remus and I looked at each other as James too, started ruffling his hair anxiously.

It took Black three huge sips to tell us what really happened.

"I discovered an interesting spell last night, trying to do an essay in the library."

I'm sure if Black wasn't deadly angry James would jump right in to mock him about being in the library, but none of us said anything about it as he kept talking.

"It's like some kind of a mild curse, you cast it to an object and it drives you crazy if you won't do what's necessary. Then I fooled around with it a little bit an hexed this piece of parchment. I thought the next time you write to _her-_"

Upon seeing the size of my eyes he quickly tried to cover up what he just said. Black was the only one who knew about my letters. He caught me in the Owlery one night, and after him insisting for at least half an hour, I ended up telling the truth.

"I mean- when you write to _someone_, it will start screaming, flying around mentally, knocking _everything _down till the person finally writes back. It was _attacking _the person at first, but figured that would be too hardcore so I blocked that out. Only problem is that, after unbinding the ribbon, you have to write something and send immediately."

I still couldn't understand. So did Remus and James, obviously, for James was going mental with the hair ruffling, and Remus was given up on his Astronomy paper. The three of us, we all were looking at Sirius in anticipation. He took another sip from my flask and seemed to calm down a little bit. Only a little though.

"The thing is, Eva found it in my pocket and thought it was something to read, a letter or something. When I told her she can't look at it, she got all upset and tried to take it anyway. Then I ended up telling her it was Wolf's, some stupid, empty parchment, she lost her bloody marbles. She thought that it was a letter from you. Or _for_ you, Wolf, I don't know."

Damn.

"Why the hell we'd write to each other anyways, we live in the same place for fuck's sake." he grouched.

Thinking how awkward it was going to be in the dormitory from now on, I face palmed. Remus and James were on the edge of chuckling, as I sank deeper in the couch and reached Sirius with my hand.

"Give me the damn flask." I moaned, extremely unhappy and Remus couldn't keep his chortle in any longer.

I desperately held onto the flask and drank for dear life. I couldn't believe how thick Sirius could be sometimes, I just - couldn't. "_Putain!_" I grumbled, "Why on earth did you say that it was _mine_? Of course she wouldn't believe you, dammit, you're the official womanizer of this castle."

"Now, what do you mean?" he objected, as if I said that he comes from a different galaxy.

"Dude, Felicia's right." James came to my help. It was really rare for him to be against Sirius, so that means I was a hundred percent right. "You didn't even remember dating Eva, she has every right to be skeptical."

Black didn't say anything, he just reached for the flask and I gave him. We were sitting silently for a while when he made the most ridiculous suggestion.

"Would you talk to her tomorrow?"

Three pairs of eyes were lingering on me now, and I felt my cheeks burning with rage.

"No. Way." I stated, rising in my seat. "Not a chance. Not in a million years. Not even if they give me a First Class Order Of Merlin award."

"Why not?" Black squealed, like the shrillness of his voice could convince me.

"Because she's not _my _girlfriend and this is weird enough already."

Remus chuckled over my remark. "She's got a point though."

After a couple more attempts to convince me and being shut down at each one, Black finally gave up. "Alright." he huffed petulantly like a two year old, and gave me my flask back. "Let's not talk about it then. It makes me cranky."

We played four or five rounds of Exploding Snaps, and it lasted long enough to send both James and Remus to bed. When we were finally done I was trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes and Black was yawning constantly. Looking around, I saw there was no one left but the two of us and the fire was nearly died down. I looked at him with a little smile on my face as he put the cards together.

"Thank you." I mumbled. I didn't want to remind him of the fight again, but I really had to thank him in the meantime. "It was really nice of you, the parchment, you know."

"Don't even mention it." he said smiling, like it was nothing. "It's just a little idea. Hope it works."

I wasn't sure if it would work, but worth a try all the same. We looked at each other for one last time before going into our separate stairways to the dormitories.

"Goodnight Wolf." he smiled once again.

"You too, Black. Good luck tomorrow." I teased, and I know it was a little cruel of me.

And he sighed wearily.

* * *

**A/N: **_To avoid any confusion: the letters are signed as "A" instead of "F" for Felicia. The reason is yet to be revealed. It's no big deal though, just a small detail. know that they're written by Felicia, and it's enough for now. :) Hope you're liking the story so far. _

**Dopplebeater Defence**: is a Quidditch tactic where both Beaters strike a Bludger at the same time. The resulting strike is more powerful, which increases the Bludger's danger to the opposing players. [Quidditch through the Ages]


	7. Jersey

"Pancakes for my favorite Beater." Sirius sang, and pushed a huge plate towards me. "You can make them swim in syrup for all I care. I want you at your best!"

Hours before my first Quidditch match, everyone was in a hectic mood. Knowing about my major sweet tooth, Black's been throwing every piece of sugary food in front of me, obviously trying to get me into a some kind of sugar rush.

"Are you trying to give me diabetes?" I ridiculed, in the mean time turning over a bottle of maple syrup on my pancakes. "I'll turn into a Bludger you know, with all the excess energy."

"Cool by me as long as you knock over our bloody opponents. Hey, Cormier! _Eat._"

He's been bullying all of his players with food! An unpleased glance stride passed Evan's face as he nibbled on his french toast. He was the youngest of us, also, the game was going to be his first too. I gave him an encouraging smile and put an end to my relationship with pancakes.

"Enough with the eating." I protested. "I don't wanna vomit during the game."

"Actually it wouldn't be that terrible, if you vomit on the seeker and stuff.." Arista said, and we all laughed at her suggestion. It was like a tradition to have breakfast as a team before the game, and Black was dead serious about it.

"So, Felicia," I heard Logan talking, seated across me. "About today. Feel free to bring out the worst in you with all the trash talk and everything. You don't always need a Bludger to distract players."

"Ah, you can trust me with that."

"And please don't do Bludger Backbeat when there are _our _players behind."

"It was only that one time, Mckenzie, and you know it. I was actually _trying _to hit Black, to choke him back from HOWLING to me."

Sirius annoyingly grinned next to me. "It wasn't a wise thing to do Wolf, trying to injure the Keeper days before the match."

"And it wasn't wise on your behalf as well, to annoy the shit out of a short tempered Beater."

"Fair enough."

As he became unavailable by a mouthful of scrambled eggs, I turned to Mary and Arista to discuss some tactics we had to stick to.

"You remember the Blitzen Ballet, right?" I asked, throwing a little plum at Evan to get his attention. Blitzen Ballet was an amazing tactic performed best by the French National team. After having the attention of all three chasers, I continued.

"Arista, when you got the Quaffle, you pass it to Evan and he have to quickly pass it along to Mary. Evan's broom is the best among yours, so Mary, best jump on to his broom. Then, _voila!_"

"You know you're pulling a Sirius on us." Mary grumbled, and I couldn't blame her. We have practiced the move at least half a dozen times, and they had all the right to get bored of me constantly reminding them.

I gave them an apologetic smile as Black jumped on the opportunity. "She would be lucky to be like me, Mary."

And an unnerving wink followed.

"You know, Black, I desperately wish for you to be on the opposite team sometimes, so I can smash your face in with inner peace!"

"And I love you too."

James alerted by clearing his throat and cocked his chin towards the Great Hall entrance. Eva along with couple of her friends had just came in for breakfast. After their nerve-wrecking argument with Sirius, he had somehow managed to get on good terms with her again, which, I could't say the same for myself. She wasn't officially giving me hell or anything, but the tension between us was cutting through the air like hot wires.

Walking towards us, she waved to Black from afar and sat with her friends to dine away from us. I questioningly looked at Sirius.

"She knows how annoying I could be before games." he explained. "We never talk till the end of the game."

"Oh, how I wish the same chance!" I snorted.

"You know," James said laughing, pointing me with the green apple in his hand, "You turned out to be almost as annoying as he gets before the game! I'll Spello-Tape your mouths both, if you keep bickering like an old married couple."

"Only in her dr-" Sirius started, but swallowed his words over James' threatening look. Satisfied by the silence he established, James took a huge bite from his apple and ordered.

"No one speaks till the locker room."

"Can I just-"

"No."

"Important-"

"NO."

"I'm trying to set you up with Evans, you know. You might wanna be careful with me."

"Go ahead. Two words only."

"WhendoingtheBlitzenBallet onlyoneofyoumustgotothescoringarea!"

James sighed as three of the chasers rolled their eyes simultaneously. "We know."

Then I really didn't let out a single syllable till the locker room.

* * *

...

* * *

There was only minutes left till we go out to field, but Sirius still wasn't done with his long and over-sweary pep talk. It seemed to work only on Evan, as he was the only one actually listening, and for myself, I chuckled at some creative insults I heard occasionally. After dealing with the kneepads, I was struggling with my left bracer. My right hand was not obeying me.

Feeling a hand on my arm, I gazed up to see Logan standing in front of me, he was at least two heads taller. With a quiet smile, he tied the laces of my bracer and looked at me.

"Ready?" he asked, extending a fist towards me.

"Ready." I assured, and bumped his fist with mine.

When we walked out to the field, I thought the crowd's cheerings would left me deaf. It was the first time I've seen _noisy _Hufflepuffs, but they weren't enough to overcome the madness roaring up from Gryffindor bleachers. A quick look was all it takes to spot Lily jumping up and down frantically, even though her hair not being as remarkable among all the golden and red clothed students.

The weather was promising a good, long rain and it was annoyingly cold. After rubbing my hands quickly, I held onto my broom and kicked the soft soil beneath my feet. Once disconnected from the ground, I was _home _again. I was feeling like a parakeet being freed from its cage for a fly. Cold was biting my cheeks and I was seeing my breath freezing on the air, yet, nothing mattered at that moment for I was doing what I loved the most.

The players of each team took short trips around the field, driving the crowd even more insane. A few minutes later, we took our positions.

Then the whistle heard.

It was the definition of chaos. All fourteen went flying in different directions like dart pins, and I fixed my gaze on Bludgers. I caught a glimpse of Evan flying with the Quaffle under his arm, and by its mirth I shot ahead towards a Bludger I've targeted. I wasn't alone though, I've seen one of the Beaters of Hufflepuff change his direction. A quick look exchanged between me and Mckenzie, and I moved.

I dipped the head of my broom to gain some speed, and started flying towards the Beater at full steam. I felt his bewilderedness as he saw that I was after _him _instead of the Bludger. He hesitated between Bludger and running away, and I was right in front of him before he could make a decision.

My fist was directed at him as his eyes grew wider, and I was almost faster than the wind. Just an inch before my fist met his face, I took a sharp turn leaving him in an intense shock.

"Transylvanian Tackle darling!" I shouted as Logan took the opportunity and stole the Bludger, he shot it towards their Chaser and she was almost falling from her broom, resulting her to leave Evan alone.

Then we scored.

Logan flew towards me and we had a quick high-five before going after other Bludgers. The next one was an easy catch because it basically attacked me, needless to say ended up at the arm of the Hufflepuff player, making him drop the Quaffle. I could hear the Commentator praising me with all his might to the point getting interrupted by Minerva Mcgonnagall.

"Will you just comment on the _game _and game alone?" I heard her faint squeal, and couldn't contain my laugh. I saw Logan protecting Arista from a Bludger, and seconds later we scored one more time.

Quaffle was at the Hufflepuffs again. I was trying to see what James was doing when a Bludger missed my head by an inch.

"HEY?!" I raged and turned to see the rival Beater punching the air with the nerve of the mishit. He was trying to eliminate me so that we would be down to one Beater.

In anger, I tailed a Bludger like a hawk, but it was rapidly drawing spirals and I couldn't aim properly. It hit that son of a-

It hit that Hufflepuff Beater by the point of his broom, and he pirouetted at least five times. _Good enough._

The score was 80 to 20 when I started going numb on the fingertips. The cold was biting me everywhere, making concentration a task from outer space. James was manicly seeking for the Snitch beneath me, and I shouted before going after a Chaser going towards our Keeps.

"A Snitch would be much appreciated right now, Potter! I'd like to keep my hands for the next game you know!"

With his cold-burned cheeks, he grinned and accelerated. "Go kick some ass while you still have the chance alright? The game will soon be over." And just like that, he vanished.

To my inconvenience, I wasn't the only one going after the Hufflepuff chaser. He was protected by one of his Beaters, and it didn't take me very long to figure out their intention. Without letting them see me, I dived right in and started flying way beneath them. I could see the Beater desperately searching for a Bludger.

"Good luck sucker." I mumbled, still lurking below.

But there was only a twenty meters to our keep, and somehow the other Beater managed to pass a Bludger along. I savagely pulled the tip of my broom, and darted upwards to meet the Bludger he shot at Sirius.

Just in time.

With the perfect stroke, it bounced back from me and hit the Beater right in the chest. He was holding onto his broom with only one hand, and Sirius caught the Quaffle their Chaser shot.

Of course, I managed to find time to turn back and needle Black.

"Look who's protecting who?"

"Not possible to annoy me dear, right now I am in love with you!"

I gave him a two fingered salute before flying towards a nasty, black ball again. Seeing Logan making an amazing beat on the other side of the field, I clapped him with all my might while passing him by. With a snicker tugged at his lips, he bowed in return.

I wish someone would set me on fire so I could feel my body again. The drizzle that had been going on for twenty minutes unfortunately turned into this sudden downpour, which was a shitty thing for our already limited sight. I was really in need of a Bludger, but what was going on near the Hufflepuff keeps was definitely worth to take a short break.

They were doing the Blitzen Ballet.

The tree amazing chaser of ours were constantly passing the Quaffle to each other, constantly misleading the rival Chasers and Beaters. Even I couldn't keep a track of who had the ball, it drew triangles between Timmons, Macdonald and Cormier at least six times in the last ten seconds. I saw Arista jumping on Evan's broom, and how dumbstruck the Hufflepuffs had become was definitely a priceless sight.

The Commentator screamed to let us know that Gryffindor scored once more, and I started flying even faster to find a Bludger, screaming a Gryffindor cheer with the top of my lungs.

"_And our Chasers they can score,  
So let's hear the Gryffindors roar!"*_

After five strokes and two more minor injuries on the Hufflepuff team, we heard the whistle.

James was flying like a mad man with the Snitch in his hand, showing it to the Gryffindor students with the biggest smile on his face that could made the corner of his mouth met at the back of his head. Gryffindors were _literally _roaring, as we dived right down to celebrate it as a team.

Logan was already on the ground while I was going down, and I kind of landed on him, throwing my broomstick away at the last second. We tangled up in a tight hug and none of us understood what the other said. He was spinning me around with one hand, while using the other to get the bleachers going even more mental. He was roaring, in fact, everyone was roaring and I could almost _smell _the party we would be throwing later that night.

Evan, Arista and Mary joined us on the ground, and Logan immediately chest bumped Evan as I throw myself onto Arista and Mary, knocking over the three of us down.

"YOU DID THE BLITZEN BALLET!" I screamed. "YOU DID THE HELL OUT OF IT!"

Arista was cracking up beneath me as I ruffled Mary's hair, and one of them could find a breath to answer me. "_Of course _we did it, you nutjob!"

Someone wrapped an arm around my waist and scooped me away from the girls. When I was on my feet, another hand followed and someone was hugging me from behind.

"You were _mental!_" the owner of the voice basically screamed into my ear, his arms were holding me close tightly. Then, he placed an unexpected kiss on my temple, with his messy hair getting in front of half of my face, tickling my cheek and nose.

Aaand, my stomach did a weird thing.

I turned back to see a Sirius Black with sparkling eyes, and before I could find time to give an answer James landed right next to us. He tackled Black, and I watched them rolling on the ground like a ball of happiness.

* * *

...

* * *

The party was crazier then I expected. Knowing that we would be winning a hundred percent, the students had already put the party decor up. There were balloons everywhere, and once popped; a wild lion's roaring could be heard. Needless to say that we were popping them up like crazy. The major duty of our friends was to fixing Quidditch players with a Butterbeer every time they see one of us empty handed.

"Felicia!" James called out half-drunk from across the room and threw me an unwrapped chocolate frog. The poor thing spread it legs flying towards me, and I caught it _with my mouth. _

"Thanks dude!"

"Sure thing!"

I wonder how the party would be if we'd won against Slytherin.

Remus was sitting right next to me, telling me about how awesome we were. It would be rude to shut him up, but he didn't seem the recognize that _I _was at the game too. As a matter of fact, _in _it. I gave my freshly popped open Butterbeer, only to fixed with a new one in literally two seconds. And whoever it was, she was already gone before I could take a sip._  
_

Sirius was somewhere in front of the fireplace, mercilessly snogging Eva. I quickly turned my gaze away, not wanting to remember the weird thing that happened to my stomach back at the field.

Stop it Wolf. Nothing happened, you were just unhealthily thrilled about the game.

Did my eyes betray me, or have I just seen Lily standing next to James with _happiness _dripping down her face? I elbowed Remus so hard that he spilled half of the bear on himself, but after seeing where I was pointing, he couldn't even scold me. We sat on the couch as two drank idiots who thought they were being discreet, and spied on the pair like nosy old parents.

"Are you sure that James was there first? I mean, are you really sure tha-"

"I'm dead sure! He was just standing there and she went next to him."

"He will talk about it for CENTURIES." he moaned, and I bit my lips not to burst out loud. Drunker than any of us, Peter threw himself on the couch next to me and Remus and he talked with a supposedly quiet voice. Little did he know that he was nearly screaming.

"Have you seen them!" he piped up, gripping me by the arm I was holding my Butterbeer, and he jolted me so hard that almost all of it got spilled on me.

"The biter is bit!" Remus roared, and all three of us cracked in a wild explosion of laughter.

Bunch of Butterbeers, three full flasks and hours later the Common Room was in silence, apart from the calm music coming from the record player. It was nearly four in the morning, and I was pretty sure that I've been sleeping for the last forty five minutes. Most of the students had went in the dormitories, it was around ten or eleven of us left, me being the only one awake.

With the most horrendous headache, I opened my eyes. Apparently Remus and Peter was comfortably sleeping in their beds for I had the couch to myself. What was this smell and who covered me with a blanked while I was asleep? Slightly raising my head I tried to figure it out. After a few painful blinking, I saw that it wasn't a blanket on me. It was a jersey.

Black's jersey, for that matter. I should've known by the smell, it was the same combination of a very nice perfume and a bit of sweat I smelt when he held me earlier. I clumsily tried to sit up on the couch, it felt like my head was weighing at least five tons. With minimum wiggling and maximum effort, I got up and hold my head in my hands.

Why was the dormitory so unbearably far away?

I couldn't even think about the stairs.

And then, I saw them.

Lying on the couch right across mine, all snuggled up in each others arms, sleeping peacefully. Eva's head was buried in Black's chest and his arms were all around her. Fuck, why I was feeling like someone just kicked me in the stomach? I was about to slap myself. Despite my cannonball of a head, I gathered enough strength to stand up and tiptoe towards them. I was feeling like a thief, even though all I was trying was to _give back_.

Getting nearer every second, I tried to shut my head off. Thinking wasn't for the drunk, thinking could be postponed to; well, I will think when hell freezes over. Or even better, I'll think at the wedding of Evans and Potter.

Working my ass off to not woke either of them up, I slowly draped Black's jersey on the pair. I would make a handsome thief.

Then I dragged my sorry ass up to the girls dormitory that was placed in a galaxy far, far away.

* * *

E/N:

YAY! It was a fun chapter to write, hope you enjoy it just as much as I did. To avoid any confusion; I'll explain a couple of things about the Quidditch Team & Game.

**Transylvanian Tackle: **a Quidditch tactic which debuted during the 1473 Quidditch World Cup. The move is a feint of a punch to the nose to distract or confuse an opposing player. As long as contact is not made, the move is not illegal, but it is difficult to pull off on speeding broomsticks. [QTTA]

**Blitzen Ballet: **The move involves all three Chasers and, if done correctly, secures ten points for the team. First, the Chasers pass the Quaffle to each other, and then one of the Chasers jumps onto another Chaser's broom. This confuses the Keeper, enabling one of the Chasers to score. [QTTA]

Also, about the cheer Felicia sang during the game, it was a slightly altered version of what I stumbled upon on the site: snitchseeker finished-poetry/ gryffindor-quidditch-cheer-sa9-32026/

About the players: I had to create couple more OC's in order to gather a team. Mary Macdonald, Sirius Black and James Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

List of the players:

Logan Mckenzie - Beater, 7th grade  
Felicia Wolf - Beater, 6th grade  
Mary Macdonald - Chaser, 6th grade  
Arista Timmons - Chaser, 5th grade  
Evan Cormier - Chaser, 4th grade  
Sirius Black - Keeper, 6th grade  
James Potter - Seeker, 6th grade

I call them sometimes by the first name, and sometimes by last, so keep their full names in mind to not be confused. :)

Lots of love! Till the next time!


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